Caught on CCTV: The heart-breaking last moments of Valentine's Day stab victim begging for help

Bleeding copiously and pleading for help, this CCTV shows the moment a man staggered into a corner shop after he was stabbed on Valentine's Day.

Mark Corcoran, 26, stumbled into a convenience store in South Norwood, south London, after being attacked in the street on February 14.

The shop owner called police after he walked in begging: 'Help me, help, I've been stabbed' on Sunday night, hours after going to a friend's wedding.

Police and ambulance crews rushed to the scene but could not save him and he collapsed and died on the floor.

Begging for help: Mark Corcoran captured on a shop's CCTV just moments after he was stabbed on Valentine's Day

Come forward: Police want to speak to this blonde woman in case she has any useful information for their murder investigation

Moments before he was attacked, he had called his girlfriend to tell her he loved her and wish her a Happy Valentine's Day.

A man in his forties was arrested on Tuesday but has been released on bail and police are still trying to work out how the fatal stabbing happened.

They urgently want to identify the other people in the shop at the
time, including a blonde woman who was at the till less than a minute
before Mr Corcoran arrived.

Detective Chief Inspector Cliff Lyons, who is leading the murder inquiry, said: 'We would really like to hear from the people in these CCTV stills or from anyone who may know how we can contact them.

'They are not suspects in this investigation but they may hold valuable information in helping us solve this crime.

'Mark was probably stabbed within 100 yards from the shop and, due to
the nature of his injury, collapsed shortly after he asked for help.'

Stabbed on Valentine's Day: Mark Corcoran

Mr Corcoran, of Croydon, walked into the Subitha Food and Wine shop, in Whitehorse Lane, on Sunday at about 8.20pm.

Investigators are trying to retrace his last movements on the street outside the shop to find the knifeman.

They
released two CCTV images today. The first shows a blonde woman in her
twenties at the counter 44 seconds before Mr Corcoran entered the shop.

The
second shows Mr Corcoran, in a stripey sweatshirt, seconds before he
collapsed on the shop floor. Police want to trace other customers in
the image.

His girlfriend Jane Garter has told how he phoned to say he loved her just moments before the attack.

Miss Garter, 49, who had been dating him for nine years, said: 'It kills me to think the last words he said to me were "I love you" and to tell me he had got me a Valentine's Day card.

'He was so happy and was pouring his heart out to me. He was laughing and sounded like he was having a great time. I wish I had never put down the phone. To think he was lying dead just minutes later tears me apart.

'It makes it even worse to think he was murdered on Valentine's Day, a day we should have been together. I now wish he had just spent the day with me and he would still be here now.'

She had been worried about who he was going to the wedding with but let him go because he was 'so excited', she said.

His girlfriend believes he may have been lured into the attack by people pretending to be his friends.

'Mark was such a caring guy. He was a trusting friend and could be easily led. I find it hard to believe this was just a tragic accident. Mark was not the kind of guy to annoy people on the street,' she said.

'He could be quite mild mannered and I can't help but think this was a premeditated attack by someone claiming to be his friends. I hope the police find the animals who did this to my Mark. He was a lovely guy who did not deserve to die at the age of 26.'

The murder took place two hours after an FA Cup tie between Crystal Palace and Aston Villa at Selhurst Park - just a few hundred yards from the scene, but police are unsure if there is a connection to the game.

Anyone with information should call police on 020 8721 4961 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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Caught on CCTV: The heart-breaking last moments of Valentine's Day stab victim begging for help